Wow. I want to say wow times a thousand. A few short years ago, I never would’ve expected Jeff Mangum to come out of his hiding away, forever living on as some indie rock myth. Yet, it’s 2013, and I’ve got to see him perform as a solo artist twice. Each time it left me holding out hope that I would one day get to see Neutral Milk Hotel perform in full.

Well, 2013 is a year to be lived. Neutral Milk Hotel will be reuniting for five shows. That’s a pretty lame tour, overall. But I don’t care. You shouldn’t care. The fact is a band that has been dead for more than a decade that released what is one of the most heralded albums of all time in the indie rock world has gotten back together for a few shows. I can hope they’ll do more after (or an album? What would a Jeff Mangum song sound like today as he is happily married?), but either way, these are coming.

And more importantly, the official site does indicate that there is “more to come“, with Pitchfork confirming the band’s lineup of the In The Aeroplane Over The Sea era all being there, consisting of Mangum, Scott Spillane, Julian Koster, and Jeremy Barnes.

Check out the tour dates (and the strange message posted with the announcement) after the jump.

10-22 Athens, GA – 40 Watt Club *
10-23 Athens, GA – 40 Watt Club #
10-25 Asheville, NC – Thomas Wolfe Auditorium #!
11-28 Taipei, Taiwan – Hostess Club Festival
12-01 Tokyo, Japan – Hostess Club Festival

* with Elf Power
# with Half Japanese
! with Daniel Johnston

“and of water course womb rume is a wandering the welkin woman whose fune caul is all umbilical cord code that comes equipped with read volve vît curtains that čun seel my văl én tich radio reason in remembrance of mademoiselle gabrielle and her wone tym pad lock of burd language as it borders on twin tolk the wolk king wall of woolpack pigeons pointing to the fly blind readers riddle and his rian boh“-Neutral Milk Hotel’s official website.

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Dan Bogosian

I finished school with a music theory degree. Before I finished school, I was a janitor. You really should apologize to all the janitors you've ever had. You hurt them. Seriously. You did.

But, now that we've cleared that up and you called your high school janitor, know that I quit being a janitor to pursue writing about music. So here I am, and here you are, and hey how are you?

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